Guion was born in
Adams County in
Mississippi Territory to Sarah Lewis and U.S. Army officer and planter
Isaac Guion. He studied law in
Lebanon, Tennessee along with
William L. Sharkey, was admitted to the bar, and established a successful practice in
Vicksburg, Mississippi. He practiced in partnership with Sharkey and later with
Seargent Smith Prentiss. was appointed
circuit court judge in 1836, and was elected as a
Democrat to the
state senate for
Warren County from 1842 to 1846. He later moved to
Jackson, and continued to serve in the state senate until 1851. Guion supported slavery, and played a prominent role in the Jackson convention of 1849, which was called to discuss how the Southern states should respond to the possibility of
California being admitted to the Union as a free state. In 1850 Guion was chosen to serve as the state senate's
President pro tempore. In February 1851, Mississippi Governor
John A. Quitman resigned to defend himself against charges of aiding in
filibustering expeditions against Spanish rule in Cuba. Guion became acting governor and served until November when his Senate term expired. He chose not run for reelection, and the Speaker of the Mississippi House also did not run. Since no one in the line of succession could assume the governorship, the legislature subsequently chose
James Whitfield as an interim replacement, and he served until the term of the new governor started in 1852. Guion left the state legislature following the expriation of his term in 1851 and served as District Circuit Court judge in Jackson. He began his term as scheduled and served until his death. He died on June 6, 1855, and was buried at Greenwood Cemetery in Jackson. He was remembered as handsome, courteous, "an effective jury lawyer, a social favorite...and a true gentleman of much ability." == See also ==